Because both time and space in the Eighth Universe had been contaminated, any method of teleportation would send someone into the abdomen of some unknown Old One. It was even possible to transform directly into an Evil God during the process of teleportation.
That was why the Investigation Bureau's method of teleportation was so unusual. It was called the Great Avenue of Ten Thousand Candles.
It was a passage formed by the light of an entire "parallel universe."
When this "light," ignited by an entire parallel universe, entered the Eighth Universe, all the "anomalies" in its path—the contaminated structures of space-time, the pervasive aura of the Old Ones, the lurking whispers of Evil Gods, and more—were forcibly pushed aside, suppressed, and even temporarily purified by this torrent of "order" and "cleansing."
At that moment, Gao Gong stood before this passage.
Calling it an "avenue" was actually an understatement. Before Gao Gong stretched an endless, gently rippling "curtain of light," formed from pure silver-white "light of order."
On the other side of the curtain lay the twisted, dark, indescribably colorful, frantically writhing scene of the heavily contaminated space-time of the Eighth Universe. Yet those scenes were firmly sealed outside by the silver-white curtain, unable to seep through in the slightest.
"I'll see you this far. I'll leave this civilization lamp with you. You may find it useful while studying at the Abyssal Library."
Azathoth handed the oil lamp to Gao Gong.
"Can the multiverse really evolve this many 'civilizations'?"
Gao Gong glanced at the "curtain of light," then at the "universe lamp" behind him, somewhat puzzled.
Given the scale of this "civilization illumination," the number of civilizations evolved by this parallel universe was probably in the hundreds of millions.
Azathoth paused, then answered honestly:
"This isn't actually a real civilization universe.